Tampa Bay Rays: Spring Training roster set… for now

The Tampa Bay Rays released a list of 64 players who make up the 2019 spring training roster… for now. There is still plenty of time for trades and signings to occur which could alter the roster.

If you haven’t already, start counting down the days Rays fans. The Tampa Bay Rays are set open camp on the 13th with pitchers and catchers reporting. 5 days later on the 18th, the rest of the squad will role in and begin their march towards opening day and eventually October baseball.

Yesterday, the Rays released the full list (for now) of players who will be invited spring training in matter of weeks. Here is the list broken down by position:

Pitchers (34):

• Jose Alvarado, LHP
• Anthony Banda, LHP
• Jalen Beeks, LHP
• Yonny Chirinos, RHP
• Diego Castillo, RHP
• Jose De Leon, RHP
• Oliver Drake, RHP
• Jake Faria, RHP
• Wilmer Font, RHP
• Mike Franco, RHP
• Ian Gardeck, RHP
• Ian Gibaut, RHP
• Tyler Glasnow, RHP
• Brent Honeywell, RHP
• Andrew Kittridge, RHP
• Adam Kolarek, LHP
• Ryan Merrit, LHP
• Hoby Milner, LHP
• Dalton Moats, LHP
• Andrew Moore, RHP
• Charlie Morton, RHP
• Emilio Pagan, RHP
• Ricardo Pinto, RHP
• Colin Poche, LHP
• Austin Pruitt, RHP
• Chaz Roe, RHP
• Casey Sadler, RHP
• Luis Santos, RHP
• Blake Snell, LHP
• Ryne Stanek, RHP
• Cole Sulser, RHP
• Curtis Taylor, RHP
• Hunter Wood, RHP
• Ryan Yarbrough, LHP

Catchers (6) B-T,

• Anthony Bemboom, L-R
• Nick Cuiffo, L-R
• Mac James, R-R
• Michael Perez, L-R
• David Rodriguez, R-R
• Mike Zunino, R-R

Infielders (16) B-T,

• Willy Adames, R-R
• Christian Arroyo, R-R
• Emilio Bonifacio, S-R
• Mike Brosseau, R-R
• Ji-Man Choi, L-H
• Jake Cronenworth, L-R
• Yandy Diaz, R-R
• Matt Duffy, R-R
• Lucius Fox, S-R
• Brandon Lowe, L-R
• Nate Lowe, L-H
• Daniel Robertson, R-R
• Nick Solak, R-R
• Andrew Velazquez, S-R
• Joey Wendle, L-H
• Kean Wong, L-R

Outfielders (8) B-T,

• Avisail Garcia, R-R
• Guillermo Heredia, R-L
• Kevin Kiermaier, L-R
• Joe McCarthy, L-L
• Austin Meadows, L-L
• Tommy Pham, R-R
• Jesus Sanchez, L-R
• Jake Smolinski, R-R

Bold players indicate non-roster invite.

The list above, which includes 64 names, is highlighted by some big minor league names who will look to make an impression on the coaching staff throughout camp. Nate Lowe, Jesus Sanchez, Nick Solak, Joe McCarthy, Kean Wong, and Lucius Fox are the most exciting of the minor leaguers to be making their way to Port Charlotte.

Joe McCarthy will be looking to show off his power from the left side while attempting to give Guillermo Heredia a run for his money. Kean Wong will be looking to prove that he does in fact belong at the major league level.

In Jesus Sanchez and Lucius Fox, Rays fans will get a glimpse at a couple of top 100 prospects and a piece of the Rays future. Finally, Nate Lowe who surged through the minors last season will be looking to accelerate his path to the Trop with a strong spring just as Jake Bauers did a year ago.

Brent Honeywell and Jose De Leon will be back on the bump as they work towards game action again.

There will be a Franco in camp… but it isn’t the Rays phenom Wander Franco. Nope, instead it is Mike Franco who worked as a reliever for Montgomery and Durham last year.

Keep in mind, this roster could still look rather different in a few weeks as players start to trickle in. Players may still be traded, signed an even released. I would still keep an eye out for the addition of a veteran reliever and we can’t rule out J.T. Realmuto just yet… or maybe we can, the story seems to change every other day.

As recently as yesterday the Rays announced 5 new non-roster invites. I broke down each of the five here. 

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